Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Eastwood Excerpts

Monday 4th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

What progress the Government have made in processing offers of help from UK businesses to manufacture personal protective equipment.

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking with UK manufacturers to increase the supply of personal protective equipment.

[Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking with UK manufacturers to increase the supply of personal protective equipment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Gove]

We have received 12,789 offers of help with the provision of PPE and 10,436 of those companies have now been contacted. I am sure that the House appreciates that many of those who make well-intentioned and generous offers of help are offering PPE that may not be appropriate in health and social care settings. We must ensure that we have appropriate PPE in appropriate settings.

[Mark Eastwood [V]]

I have been assisting manufacturers in Dewsbury, Mirfield, Kirkburn and Denby Dale to register as potential suppliers of PPE on the gov.uk portal. I am pleased that the Cabinet Office is now responding to those businesses. My right hon. Friend has just confirmed how many have registered on the site nationally. Will he confirm when those that have registered are likely to start receiving orders for PPE?

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for the work that he, along with so many others, has done in order that generous offers of support can be processed efficiently. As I mentioned, we have 10,436 organisations with whom we have been in contact. But specifically with regard to UK manufacturing, there are 201 manufacturers with whom we are in touch at the moment, 180 of whom are qualified to provide PPE and 22 of whom are going through the technical product review necessary in order to ensure that their personal protective equipment is appropriate.